Lighting in working environment and its influence on employee's visual field

• Grant number: 15/23213-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 11, 2016
• End date: February 10, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Sergio Scarazzato
• Grantee: Maíra Vieira Dias
• Supervisor: Scartezzini Jean-Louis
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FEC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/08887-1 - Lighting in Industrial Environment and its Influence on Employee's Visual Field, BP.DR

Abstract

The performance of industrial employees is directly related with health and environmental factors associated to workplace, as example lighting and absenteeism rates, although, such links are still not well understood. Light interferes on satisfaction with work and influences important biological functions in humans. High illuminance at eyes level can increase visual activities, alertness and well-being, since within certain limits. However, recent studies have demonstrated that only vertical illuminance near human eyes has been measured, while visual field is not actually taken into account. The goal of this research is to verify influences of luminances and illuminances distribution on visual field of employees working in an industrial building in Vinhedo/SP/Brazil. Therefore, a Brazilian device derived from a German one, called "LuxBlick", will be developed which monitors light features at eyes level, through photometric sensors attached to the glass frame. It can assess glare risks in the visual field, by using High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging techniques. The assessment was made with employees of workstations mostly affected by the lighting conditions that will wear the device. To assess the possible impact of light on the performance and well-being of employees, questionnaires recognized by medical researchers to measure the mental health status, depressive symptoms and anxiety, will be used. Possible correlation between influences of lighting systems on the absenteeism rate will be investigated. Results will be examined considering both qualitative and quantitative aspects of lighting, since a better understanding of the correlation between lighting features and phycho-physiological responses of subjects provide with a greater reliability to assessments of a lighting environment. It is expected that this study can propose recommendations that, if implemented, can result in more healthy, safe and visually comfortable manufacturing environments. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MAÍRA VIEIRA DIAS; ALI MOTAMED; PAULO SERGIO SCARAZZATO; JEAN-LOUIS SCARTEZZINI. Dispositivo vestível para medição da iluminância pupilar. Ambient. constr., v. 19, n. 2, p. 129-143, 2019-04-00. (12/08887-1, 15/23213-5)

DIAS, MAIRA VIEIRA; MOTAMED, ALI; SCARAZZATO, PAULO SERGIO; SCARTEZZINI, JEAN-LOUIS; SCARTEZZINI, JL. Toward proper evaluation of light dose in indoor office environment by frontal lux meter. 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH, ICEER 2017, v. 122, p. 6-pg., 2017-01-01. (15/23213-5, 12/08887-1)